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The winner of the main event between Miller and Diaz will find himself close to a title shot (Photos by Dave Mandel, Sherdog.com).

UFC on FOX 3 Set for the IZOD Center in East Rutherford

A press conference on Tuesday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City officially confirmed the return of the UFC to neighboring New Jersey, making its first appearance at the IZOD Center since UFC 32 in 2001. The third installment of the UFC on FOX is locked up for Saturday, May 5th, with lightweight Nate Diaz (15-7) facing Garden State native Jim Miller (21-3) in the main event of the night.

“For our third card on FOX, we have four great fights!” UFC President Dana White said. “Nate Diaz versus Jim Miller is the five-round main event, and the winner will put himself in a position to fight for the title. Both of these guys fight at an incredible pace and are coming off great wins.”

White also voiced his excitement for the remainder of the live card, which features three additional weight classes.

“We’ve got an amazing heavyweight fight between knockout artists Pat Barry and Lavar Johnson, as well as welterweight title contender fight between Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks,” he continued. “Johny just knocked out Koscheck’s training partner, Jon Fitch, and wants a title shot. To do it, he’s gotta get past Koscheck, who’s one of the best 170-pounders in the world. If that wasn’t enough, submission specialist Rousimar Palhares meets Alan Belcher in an exciting middleweight fight. I’m excited for fans in New Jersey and New York to experience the UFC live again.”

Prudential Center in Newark was the venue for the previous three UFC cards in New Jersey, the last one seeing Jon Jones capture the Light Heavyweight Championship by securing a TKO win over Maurício Rua at UFC 128. Before that card was UFC 111, where Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre successfully defended his belt against Dan Hardy, and Shane Carwin scored a first round TKO over Frank Mir to become the interim Heavyweight Titleholder. Prior to that, the Newark arena hosted UFC 78: Validation, where Rashad Evans defeated Michael Bisbing in a light heavyweight pairing. UFC 78 was the first event by the promotion in the Garden State since UFC 53, which was held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The UFC is rumored to be returning to Atlantic City this June for its third live show on FX.